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[[Image:FirstMethodistPalafox.jpg|thumb|left|===The early church's second home, at [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s]]===First Methodist Church was first established in Pensacola on [[December 7]], [[1821]] as a mission of the Mississippi Methodist Conference, with the Reverend [[Alexander Talley]] as the mission's first pastor. Initially services were held in a courthouse and old theatreTalley was followed by Rev. In [[1827Ashley Hewett]], the church purchased a lot on the northeast corner of who in turn was succeeded by Rev. Dr. [[Tarragona Street|TarragonaHenry P. Cook]] and [[Intendencia Street]]s, and . Without a permanent home for the , church was built, with the first services were held on [[June 2]]in public buildings as well as in a theatre. The March 20, 1824 issue of the ''[[1828Pensacola Gazette]]'' mentions a service held at the courthouse.

Rev. Dr. Cook died of yellow fever in the fall of [[1825]], and was replaced by Rev. Dr. [[John R. Lambuth]], but Rev. Lambuth's tenure did not last long, for the mission was transferred to the South Carolina Methodist Conference in [[1826]]. It was during the service of the next pastor, Rev. [[Charles Hardy]], that the South Carolina conference approved funds for construction of a permanent home for the church. ===The first permanent home===In [[1827]], a lot on the northeast corner of [[Tarragona Street|Tarragona]] and [[Intendencia Street]]s was purchased, and a permanent home for the church was built, with the first services held on [[June 2]], [[1828]]. Several months prior, on [[February 14]], [[1828]], Rev. [[Isaac Boring]] had been appointed to take over the church from Rev. Hardy; Rev. Boring arrived in Pensacola on [[March 12]] and sold his horse to Rev. Hardy for $100, so that Rev. Hardy would have transportation to his next destination. Rev. [[Adam Wyrick]] took over in [[1829]]; he wrote of Pensacola: "... a most terribly ... wicked place. Can see little evidence of good being accomplished." His successor, Rev. Dr. [[John W. Talley]], was the last pastor sent by the South Carolina conference; the Pensacola-Escambia mission was again transferred in 1831, this time to the Georgia conference, who sent as pastor Rev. [[P. C. Shelman]].  This first church building suffered two fires and in [[1881]] the property was sold and the church constructed a new facility on the northwest corner of [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s.  ===Second building===[[Image:FirstMethodistPalafox.jpg|thumb|left|The church's second home, at [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] and [[Garden Street]]s]]In [[1906]], that lot was sold to make way for the [[San Carlos Hotel]], and the church purchased its current site on [[Wright Street]].

*Rev. Dr. [[Henry Earle Roberts]] (retired June [[2006]])

<small>{{refbegin}}*[http://www.pensacolafirstchurch.com/about.htm About First United Methodist Church]*King, M. Luther. [http://www.friendsofpacelibrary.org/History/King%20History/ChurchesMethodist.htm "Church History of Santa Rosa County: Some Sketches of Methodism."]Friends of Pace Library. Retrieved on 2008-12-19.{{refend}}